Process of drawing wire



UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE,

CHARLES S. HALL, ADDISON 13. OLEMENOE, AND H. F. AUG. SETTERWALL, OFVVOROESTER, MASSACHUSETTS.

PROCESS OF DRAWING WIRE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 325,800, datedSeptember 8, 1885.

I Applicaiil n filed October 30, 1884. (No specimens) T aZZ whom it mayconcern.-

Be it known that we, CHARLES S. I'IALL, ADDISON B. GLEMENOE, and H. F.AUGUST SETTERWALL, all of the city and county of Vorcester, and State ofMassachusetts, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in theArt or Process of Oleani ng, Coating, and Reducing \Vire Rods or W'ire,of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description, enablingothers skilled in the art to which it appertaius to make anduse thesame.

Our invention relates to the application of a peculiar anti-frictioncoating or lubricant to the surface of wire rods or wire after thecleaning, and prior to the reducing operation, to facilitate saidreduction in size; and it consists in cleaning the wire rods or wire inthe usual way, then coating with either metallic lead alone, depositedfrom a solution,or metallic lead and lime, meal, flour, or other suitable and wellknown lubricants or antifriction materials, and finallyreducing by drawing or other well-known means.

2 Prior to our invention the various coatings and combinations ofcoatings used upon wire rods and wire have not given perfectsatisfaction for various well-known reasons, one of the principalobjections being that said old 0 coatings, so far as we know, do notprevent oxidation of the metal when exposed to the weather andatmospheric action, some of said old coatings even tending to hastenrather than retard the corroding process. Other objections to the oldcoatings are that they are notof a sufficiently adhesive and lubricatingnature to produce good, smooth, perfectly coated wire withoutnecessitating numerous unnecessary repetitions of the cleaning, an-

nealing, coating, and reducing operations in reducing from a wire rod tothe smaller sizes of wire.

It has heretofore been considered that good results are obtained by theuse of old coatings, conceded to be the best, if on an average areduction of six sizes by four drafts is olr tained, resulting in good,uniformly-smooth wire. The aforesaid result, it will be understood, isobtained only when the very best of coatings are used and under the mostfavorable circumstances. Even these coatings are objectionable, not onlyfor the reason that the several operations before described arenecessitated at frequent intervals to reduce the wire to the requiredsizes, but also for the reason that they protect said wire fromcorrosion only in a very slight degree, which all purchasers and usersof such wire will affirm. These objections, and especially the latter,have been a source of constant study to ob- 6o viate by manufacturersand others interested in the manufacture of wire rods and wire, but upto the date of our invention no better results, to our knowledge, havebeen produced than hereinbefore described.

\Ve have thoroughly tested the practicability of our invention intreating several thousand pounds of wire rods and wire, and find thatupon an average we can reduce the metal eight sizes by six drafts,leaving it at completion perfectly smooth and evenly coated throughout.At this stage in the reducing process the metal becomes too brittle tobe further reduced with safety, although consid erable of the coatingstill adheres to its surface, and might, but for the above reason, bereduced several sizes smaller, and still leave a sufficient amount ofthe coating upon the surface of the wire to protect it from the weatherfor a much longer period than any other known coatings used for asimilar purpose.

In treating wire rods and wire by our im proved process they are firstthoroughly cleaned, either chemically by means of any of the well-knownacids used for that purpose or by any of the mechanical means usuallyemployed. It is next rinsed off with water applied in any suitable andconvenient manner. A partial coating of metallic lead is then applied byimmersion in a solution of a compound of lead,(preferably the acetate orsugar of lead,) water, and acetic acid (if the acetate of lead is used)to acid reaction, the proportions of which are necessarily varied, as wll be well understood, according to the nature of the material dealtwith and the character of the final product desired to be obtained, theduration of immersion also, of course, governing the degree of strengthrequired to I00 properly coat the wireas for instance, if it isdesirable to coat a certain class of wireby sion.

\Ve have found in practice that the following proportions have proventhe most satisfactory in ordinary cases, viz: one pound of the acetateof lead to one gallon of water, and sufficient acetic acid to acidreaction, to produce a 'proper adhesion of the lead to the surface ofthe wire. By the use of the aforesaid proportions in a hot solution wefind that an immer-- sion of about four minutes is required to depositthe proper amount of lead upon the surface of the metal.

The aforesaid solution may be used either After the partial coating oflead has been applied to the wire rods or wire as before described theyare then coated over the lead coating with lime, meal, flour, or any ofthe well-known coatings in common use. Said wire rods or wire are nowready to be drawn or otherwise reduced in size, which operation may beperformed by any of the ordinary and wellknown means in the usualmanner.

Ve find in practice that a better and more highly polished finish isproduced upon the surface of the wire rods or wire by the use of onlythe lead coating to carry it through the reducing process; but as it isa much more expensive method we prefer to use only a partial coating oflead, with a secondary coating of any common lubricant, as beforedescribed, the product being by the last method of sufficiently goodquality of finish for all practical purposes, and much cheaper, asbefore stated. \Ve have also ascertained in practice that but little ifany difference in quality is apparent between the single or doublecoating, so far as relates to the reducing process, either one beingsufficient to carry said process to the reducing limit of the metalbeing treated,

and still leave sufficient lead adhering to the surface of the wire toprotect it from corrosion, as before described.

The second coating serves the purpose nearly or quite as well as thelead in the first stages of the reducing process, and having the latterunderneath to impart a polish and to protect the finished product itwill be seen that the result produced is about the same by the use ofeither the lead alone or the double coating described, the onlydifference being that by the use of lead alone an improvement in thesmoothness and polish is produced.

If the wire is to be reduced only a few sizes, we should in all casesuse only the lead coating, for the reason that in such a case only atrifle more of the coating is required than for imparting a finish tothe wire and to protect it from corrosion, thus making it inadvisable toapply the second coating, as will be obviously seen. \Ve therefore donotlimit ourselves to the use of only the double coating, as the leadcoating used alone is quite as essential in carrying out our improvedprocess as the same used with other lubricants applied over the same asbefore described. Neither do we limit ourselves to the use of theacetate or sugar of lead to obtain a metallic deposit by immersion in asolution, as sulphate of lead and other compounds of lead may be usedfor the same purpose, if preferred, by using their corresponding acidsto acid reaction.

In practice we prefer the acetate of lead compounthas a metallicdepositis more quickly precipitated by its use than by any of the othersalts or compounds of lead.

YVe are aware that the use of lead as a coating for metals is not new,and therefore make no claim in a broad sense to its use, our claim beinglimited to the use of lead applied in metallic form on wire rods or wirein combination with the process of cleaning and re ducing said wire rodsor wire in carrying out our improved process hereinbefore described.

Having described our improvements in the art or process of cleaning,coating, and reducing wire rods or wire, what we claim therein as newand of our invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. As an improvement in the art of making wire, the same consisting infirst cleaning the wire, then coating with lead by immersion in a bathof acetate of lead, acetic acid, and water, finally reducing by drawingor otherwise, substantially as described.

2 As an improvement in theart of making wire, consisting in firstcleansing the wire, then coating with lead by immersion in a bath ofacetate of lead, acetic acid, and water, then coating with flour, meal,or any well-.known anti-friction lubricant, finally reducing by drawingor otherwise, substantially as described.

GHARLES S. HALL. ADDISON B. OLEMENCE. H. F. AUG. SETTER\VALL.

\Vitnesses:

\VALTER B. NoURsn, ALBERT A. BARKER.

